The Oxford Handbook of Africa and Economics Volume 2: Policies and Practices

A popular myth about the travails of Africa holds that the continent's long history of poor economic performance reflects the inability of its leaders and policymakers to fulfill the long list of preconditions to be met before sustained growth can be achieved. These conditions are said to vary from the necessary quantity and quality of physical and human capital to the appropriate institutions and business environments. While intellectually charming and often elegantly formulated, that conventional wisdom is actually contradicted by historical evidence and common sense. It also suggests a form of intellectual mimicry that posits a unique path to prosperity for all countries regardless of their level of development and economic structure. In fact, the argument underlining that reasoning is tautological, and the policy prescriptions derived from it are fatally teleological: low-income countries are by definition those where such ingredients are missing. None of today's high-income countries started its growth process with the "required " and complete list of growth ingredients. Unless one truly believes that the continent of Africa-and most developing countries-are ruled predominantly if not exclusively by plutocrats with a high propensity for sadomasochism, the conventional view must be re-examined, debated, and questioned. This volume-the second of the Oxford Handbook of Africa and Economics-aims at reassessing the economic policies and practices observed across the continent since independence. It offers a collection of analyses by some of the leading economists and development thinkers of our time, and reflects a wide range of perspectives and viewpoints-even on the same topic. Africa's emergence as a potential economic powerhouse in the years and decades ahead amply justifies the scope and ambition of the book.

1 - African Growth Strategies: The Past, Present and Future
2 - Africa's Quiet Revolution
3 - Monetary Policy Issues in Sub-Saharan Africa
4 - The Future of African Monetary Geography
5 - The CFA Franc: A Biography
6 - Challenges of Central Banking in Africa
7 - Fiscal Policy in Africa
8 - African Debt and Debt Relief
9 - Savings, Capital Flight, and African Development
10 - Regional Integration in Africa
11 - Natural Resources: Utilizing the Precious Boon
12 - Rediscovering Structural Change: Manufacturing, Natural Resources and Industrialization
13 - Innovation Capabilities for Sustainable Development in Africa
14 - Land Tenure and Agricultural Intensification in Sub-Saharan Africa
15 - Agriculture, Growth, and Development in Africa: Theory and Practice
16 - Capacity Development for Transformation
17 - Gold Mining and Economic and Social Change in West Africa
18 - The Economic Impacts of New Technologies in Africa
19 - Infrastructure in Africa
20 - Financial Inclusion in Africa : Obstacles and Opportunities
21 - Financial Markets Development in Africa
22 - Islamic Finance in North Africa
23 - Regulatory Reform for Closing Africa's Competitiveness Gap
24 - School Enrolment, Attainment, and Returns to Education in Africa
25 - Mobility, Human Capital, Remittances, and Economic Transformation
26 - Health, Growth, and Development in Africa
27 - The Economics of Malaria
28 - An Empirical Analysis of the Economics of Marriage in Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia
29 - Economics, Women, and Gender: The African Story
30 - Gender, Economic Growth, and Development in Sub-Saharan Africa
31 - Gender Economics in North Africa
32 - The Economics of the African Media
33 - What Do Development NGOs Achieve?
34 - Trade Unions in South Africa
35 - African Development Banks: Lessons for Development Economics
36 - The Political Economy of Aid in North Africa
37 - Aid to Africa: The Changing Context
38 - Remittances to Africa and Economics
39 - Foreign Direct Investment in Africa: Lessons for Economics
40 - International Capital Flows to Africa
41 - The Three Phases/Faces of China in Independent Africa
42 - Aid to Africa: merging Trends and Issues
43 - China-Africa Cooperation in Structural Transformation
44 - China's Rise and Structural Transformation in Africa: Ideas and Opportunities
45 - Economics and Policy: Some Lessons from Africa's Experience
46 - The Prospects for an Imminent Demographic Dividend in Africa: The Case for Cautious Optimism
47 - Africa's Demographic Transition and Economic Prospects

C'elestin Monga is Managing Director at the United a Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). He previously worked as senior advisor and program director at the World Bank and has held various board and senior positions in academia and financial services. A graduate of MIT, Harvard, and the universities of Paris 1 Panth'eon-Sorbonne, Bordeaux and Pau, Dr Monga was the Economics editor for the 5-volume New Encyclopedia of Africa (Charles Scribner's, 2007). His published works have been translated into multiple languages. Justin Yifu Lin is Councillor of the State Council and professor and honorary dean of the National School of Development at Peking University. He was the Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of the World Bank, 2008-2012. Prior to this, Professor Lin served for 15 years as Founding Director and Professor of the China Centre for Economic Research (CCER) at Peking University. He is a member of the Standing Committee, Chinese People's Political Consultation Conference, and Vice Chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce. He is a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy and a Fellow of the Academy of Sciences for Developing World.